Prior experience and communication media in establishing common ground during collaboration

Yugo Hayashi, Nagoya University

Kazuhisa Miwa, Nagoya University

Abstract

In this study, we investigated the nature of establishing common
ground during collaborative problem solving. Our goal was to investigate the
following two points: (1) if the establishment of common ground leads to
successful problem solving, and (2) how the two factors, communication experience
and the richness of media, affect the establishment of common ground. We
conducted a psychological experiment by constructing a situation where two
participants engage in a rule discovery task with different perspectives. While
solving the task, each of the participants confronts miscommunication about the
other's perspective and has to manage to overcome this situation. The results
show: (1) the establishment of common ground actually enhances successful problem
solving, (2) communication experience between the members improves the
establishment of common ground and as a result enhances successful problem
solving, and (3) rich communication media also enhances the establishment of
common ground and successful problem solving. The influences of the two factors,
communication experience and richness of media are discussed both empirically and
theoretically.